1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to systems and methods that are used in the steam reformation of natural gas to produce syngas and then react the syngas to form a liquid hydrocarbon. More particularly, the present invention is related to systems and methods that react natural gas into syngas and react syngas into liquid hydrocarbons using the Fischer-Tropsch process.
2. Prior Art Description
Natural gas is a widely abundant natural resource that exists in deposits underground and under the oceans around the world. However, natural gas is not used directly from a well. Natural gas must first be processed to remove contaminant gases and other impurities that are mixed within the natural gas. The natural gas must then be introduced into the natural gas pipeline infrastructure so that it can be utilized by commercial and private customers. As such, natural gas obtained from wells must be transported to processing centers.
The concentration of natural gas varies greatly from deposit to deposit. If a natural gas deposit is very large, the value of the natural gas that can be obtained justifies the cost of transporting that gas to a processing center. Such transportation is typically accomplished by building a pipeline from the gas wells to a processing center. If a pipeline is unavailable or impractical, the natural gas is pumped into storage tanks and is then transported using rail cars, trucks and/or ships.
Natural gas is mostly methane, which is a very light gas. Consequently, a small amount of natural gas takes up a large volume of space. In order to transport the natural gas more efficiently, the natural gas can be compressed into compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied into liquid natural gas (LNG). The equipment needed to compress or liquefy natural gas is very complex, very large and extremely expensive. As a result, such equipment is used sparingly and is typically used only at the most productive and profitable wells.
For every highly productive natural gas well that is drilled, there are many nominally productive wells drilled. A nominally productive well produces useful amounts of natural gas. However, due to the location of the gas well and/or the volume of gas produced by the gas well, it is not cost effective to harvest the natural gas and transport that natural gas to a processing center.
A great need therefore exits for a system and method that can be used to convert natural gas into a liquid form at the site of a nominally productive well in a manner that is low cost and space efficient. If this need is met, natural gas can be collected from nominally productive wells in a cost efficient manner, therein greatly increasing the natural gas supply available for use. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.